The Final Battle
by Kenny Rutter
Summary: Everything has come to this. All the meetings, all the united worlds, all the friendships forged, everything was leading up to this, the battle to decide the fate of the multiverse. If the heroes succeed, life goes on; if the villain succeeds, life ceases to exist. Who will be the victor?
1. Creation

CREATION

IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS DARKNESS. A BLACK VOID WITH NOT A TRACE of light to be found. Empty, cold, no sense of good and evil, right and wrong. As equal as it could be. Life had not formed, the planets and the solar systems not existing in this thick blackness.

There was no concept of time, no living beings to experience its passage. One could almost say that if there were anything in this void, it would be frozen, still as a picture.

And that was how it was, until something miraculous happened.

An explosion of raw energy rippled through the darkness, forming the first twinkling of stars. And as the energy expanded, reaching fathoms and lengths unimaginable, some of it began to coalesce, amalgamating into a new form. A trunk, with five appendages attached – to arms, two legs, and one head. And in this dark vacuum, the form began to take its first breath.

Life had been created.

Millennia passed as the energy continued to expand, and this new life form began to understand its functions. But something was missing.

This form was alone in this vast new universe.

It took many millennia more, but the form soon learned how to create worlds – universes, dimensions, solar systems, planets – and fill them with life. Beings designed to be born, grow, reproduce, and perish over a set course of time, another new concept introduced to this fledgling universe. Over the course of several hundred years, thousands of worlds were created and filled with millions upon millions of life forms to call them home. To accomplish this, a device was created, a device requiring four keys to use. While the device was open, the worlds would continue to be filled with life; should the device be closed with these four keys, all mortal life would cease to be.

But soon, he found these worlds to be too numerous, this singular universe becoming too crowded. And so, he separated them, each one becoming its own universe, each universe having its own set of rules, having separate dimensions to each universe – each dimension similar, yet different, to the prime universe.

It was not enough. He needed others like him, others who lacked a concept of time and death. He needed others who could watch over these worlds, watch over the creatures he had created. Each one would need to rule over a certain domain, each one would need to have a particular job and set of skills to make each world function.

The first of his new children, he named Yahweh. Yahweh was given control over the domain of light of the remains of the original universe, and alongside him, Lucifer was created to hold dominion over the dead. More were created to join them – Zeus, who would command the skies; Poseidon, who would command the seas; Hades, who would join Lucifer in guiding the dead.

More and more were created as the decades and centuries passed. Ra, Ammut, Anubis, Shiva, Asura, Amatarasu, so many that for even him to name them all would take the lifetime of a single mortal being.

As for all the collective universes, he needed someone to watch over them, someone to uphold the laws that he had set forth. Kronos was created to serve that purpose, watching the universes from his cosmic observatory, while Thanatos was created to be the superior to Anubis, Lucifer, and Hades, watching and guiding the dead in their journey to the afterlife.

The children were given their duties, each one assigned a specific task, and warned that they were to not wage direct combat with each other.

With his new children formed, their duties known to them, he flung the four keys to the far reaches of the cosmos, so far that eve he could not know where they would land. By doing this, it was ensured that whoever sought the keys would have to spend several millennia, if not longer, searching for the keys if they wished to close the device providing life to this new multiverse.

But then, long after the creation of these new worlds, his fears became reality, as Thanatos began his quest to gather the keys, soon coming upon three of the four keys.

The fourth key was still out there.


	2. Kronos Calls For Aid

KRONOS CALLS FOR AID

KRONOS SAT IN HIS COSMIC OBSERVATORY, THE MULTITUDE OF WORLDS flashing by as he monitored them. Each of these worlds, this infinite number of universes and separate dimensions, were still young compared to someone like Kronos. A god born shortly after the creation of the multiverse, these worlds had only been around for a short time compared to how long Kronos had been alive.

These worlds were always meant to be separate, to rarely – if ever – come into contact with each other. And yet, roughly two years ago – barely a blink of the cosmic eye – several worlds began to cross. One of Kronos's duties was to ensure that the laws created by his father, the laws he had been tasked with enforcing, were followed and upheld, and that included handing out punishments to any worlds that broke those laws.

He was different then: Cold, ruthless, hardly caring for the lives he had destroyed in punishing the worlds that failed to abide. That was until he encountered the beings of the one world that so many others seemed to be drawn to.

The inhabitants of Equestria – the name of the land, not the world itself – seemed to have a way with showing others the error of their methods. Kronos had been shown that being a ruthless enforcer who saw innocent lives as mere collateral damage, was not the way he should be conducting himself. His job was to watch over the worlds and ensure that the laws The Creator made were enforced, yes, but destroying worlds? He knew now that it was wrong. Better to instruct the inhabitants of a world and find a way to ensure that these mergers refrain from occurring.

Of course, as a god, he was forbidden from directly interfering with the lives of his charges. He could interact and have them perform tasks for him, yes, but to actually step in and help them with these tasks? The Creator had instructed all of his godly children to not have a direct hand in the lives of the mortals. Just as The Creator had instructed the gods to not wage direct war with each other. A law he knew several of his brothers – such as Ares, Huitzilopochtli, Set, Futsunushi, and Mahar, just to name a few of the many – had difficulties with. After all, many mortals viewed them as the patron saints of war, and it was their duty to guide those who fought in their names.

Kronos's reasons for scanning the worlds, though, involved one brother in particular.

While there were many gods who watched over the dead – such as Hades, Anubis, and Lucifer – they watched over the dead of their respective worlds. It was Kronos's brother Thanatos who was in charge of the dead of all worlds, responsible for guiding and protecting them during their journey to the world beyond. Thanatos was out there somewhere, every second coming one step closer to achieving his goal.

Thanatos had discovered the Keys of Life, and now he was searching for the Lock.

Kronos knew of the Keys and the Lock, but their locations were lost to him. The Creator had flung the keys to the far sides of the cosmos, ensuring that whoever set out to find them would take hundreds upon millions of years to do so – while that was hardly any time for a deity, it was still quite a stretch. And the Lock….The Creator had instructed his children to forget about its location, and while some were able to repress its location from their memories, others required more…unconventional methods of forgetting.

And yet, Thanatos, on their last meeting not too long ago, had bragged to Kronos about how he had found three of the four Keys, and was now close to finding the fourth. He had left before Kronos could question him further, and now he was out there, searching for the last Key, assuming he hadn't already found it.

Something caught his eye as he scanned the worlds. This world had none of the elements of the other worlds. Equestria, Gaia, Cybertron, the island of Mata Nui….They would be fantastical worlds compared to this relatively looking mundane universe. There were no magical ponies, no super human warriors, no transforming robots, not even a single Super Saiyan.

It was so…plain.

And yet, as he scanned the world, he saw something. A large, circular object, like a raised dais, with one keyhole on each side. He could see the energy coming out of the structure, energy he recognized as life energy.

This was it.

This was the Lock.

Perhaps, he figured, if he were unable to keep Thanatos from finding the final Key, he could prevent him from using the Keys. He just needed someone to call on, someone to aid him.

After all, the gods were forbidden from directly combating one another.

Perhaps, he figured, this was where Twilight Sparkle and the friends she'd met from the other worlds could come in. Perhaps their meetings, their worlds crossing and colliding with each other, had been more than just a coincidence. Perhaps it was fate, destiny as some would call it, and that this was what the Three Sisters of Fate had planned all along.

Either way, he needed their help.

##########################

It had been some time since Princess Twilight Sparkle's School of Friendship had opened its doors. Sure, Twilight had to circumvent the Equestrian Accreditation Association – more or less by pulling royal rank on Chancellor Neighsay – to get it started, but since then, it had become one of the most successful institutes in Equestria.

The idea had come about shortly after Twilight Sparkle and her friends – Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Spike – defeated an evil creature known only as The Storm King. To accomplish that task, they had to travel to the lands outside of Equestria – from the neighboring land of Abyssinia to the clouds with a band of harpy sky pirates, before arriving at the fabled home of the hippogriffs, Mount Aris. It was there that they discovered that the hippogriffs had transformed themselves into hippocampus to escape to the deep seas in order to avoid the Storm King.

It had taken some time, but they managed to form an alliance with their new friends and with the help of one of the Storm King's generals, a unicorn named Tempest – who later revealed her real name to be Fizzlepop Berrytwist – the Storm King was defeated and Equestria was saved.

It was because of the friendships she and her friends had forged with the likes of Capper, Celaeno, and Princess Skystar, that Twilight decided to open up a school and teach the magic of friendship to every creature, pony and otherwise.

With Twilight as the headmare and Starlight Glimmer as the councilor, that left the rest of her friends to be the teachers. And in the last several months, they'd done a fine job at it.

But if Twilight was impressed with her friends' abilities to be teachers, she was even more impressed with a number of her students, only one of which was a pony.

The first student that came to mind was Smolder, a young dragon who was sent to the school by the Dragon Lord, Ember. Smolder had been reluctant to go at first, but this was a direct order from the Dragon Lord, so Smolder had to obey. It had taken her a little bit of time to get used to the idea, as – according to Ember – dragons don't exactly believe in the concept of friendship, but she had developed her bonds and was taking her lessons home to the Dragon Lands.

Another one who didn't have a true concept of friendship before coming here was Gallus, a young griffon from the nearby kingdom of Griffonstone. Griffons, by nature, were rude, selfish, and cared little for anything unless there was some profit to be made – as Gallus had once said, "If it's not worth coin, it's not worth my time"; at least, that was the philosophy of a majority of griffons.

Deep down, though, Gallus had a strong desire to make friends and be part of a group. As an orphan, the only griffons he could find who would care for him – and even then, that was a stretch for griffon culture – was an old griffon named Grandpa Gruff, who also happened to be related to Rainbow Dash's griffon friend and fellow Flight Camp student Gilda. It was thanks to Gilda – who, thanks to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash – that Gallus began to understand the concept of friendship and pleaded with Grandpa Gruff to allow him to attend.

Pinkie Pie did seem to have a way with members of other species, such as the yaks. The inhabitants of Yakyakistan had once been content to live in an isolationist country. That was, until Twilight – with some help from Pinkie Pie – helped open the channels of communication between Yakyakistan and Equestria for the first time in hundreds of years. Yaks were notoriously difficult to get along with, considering that they had very short tempers and got very angry if things don't fit their definition of perfection. While that still remained true to some extent, Prince Rutherford's newfound relationship with the ponies gave him the perfect reason to send a young yak named Yona to the school.

Yona didn't seem like most other yaks. Sure, she loved to smash things – as all yaks do – but she was also eager to learn about pony culture and what it meant to be friends, as the only friends she had back in Yakyakistan were Prince Rutherford and the rest of her family. The lessons that she learned, she took back to her home and helped to teach the other yaks, with mixed success.

Silverstream was the niece of Queen Novo. Following the defeat of the Storm King, Novo transformed the hippocampi back to hippogriffs and spread the magic jewel that allowed for such a transformation among her people. Having spent so much time underwater, though, some members of the species elected to remain in Seaquestria, Silverstream had been one of those who elected to stay a hippocampus, but once the announcement of Twilight's school reached her kingdom, Queen Novo sent Silverstream off to learn about the ponies' ideas of friendship and spread the word back among the hippogriffs and hippocampi.

Silverstream, like every other member of her race, was in possession of a shard of the jewel, which allowed her to change from hippogriff to hippocampus at will. Having spent most of her young life underwater, Silverstream was fascinated by the world above the waves – to her, mundane things like stairs were a brand new discovery. She was so excitable, so upbeat; in a way, she reminded Twilight of Pinkie Pie, and Twilight couldn't help but find Silverstream to be absolutely adorable.

Following the death of Queen Chrysalis, many of the Changelings began to change their ways. A Changeling named Thorax – who just so happened to share a name with Chrysalis's brother, who was killed while seeking revenge for Chrysalis's death – helped with that, eventually getting the Changelings to stop feeding off the emotions of other beings. This change also reflected in the Changelings' looks, going from sickly black and green insect-like pony-looking creatures to bright, colorful, in some ways beautiful creatures. Prior to that, Thorax had struck up a friendship with Spike when the two met during a visit to the Crystal Empire.

Thorax, though Spike, also struck up a friendship with Ember, and when he learned that Ember was sending one of her subjects to Twilight's school, he decided to follow suit. The Changeling he chose was a young Changeling named Ocellus. Even before the Changelings' full reformation, Ocellus was shy and meek – in fact, on the first day at Twilight's school, she had transformed into another creature to avoid having to speak with the others due to how nervous she was. Over time, she began to open up, much like how Fluttershy had when she and Twilight first met, and it helped that she was one of the school's star students. Some of the students were still a little wary of her, given the violent history of the Changelings, but she was slowly working to overcome those prejudices.

The last of these students that Twilight was particularly fond of was a young earth pony named Sandbar. A native of Ponyville, Sandbar already had an idea about the magic of friendship, having seen it in action numerous times through the Elements of Harmony. When Twilight opened her school, he saw this as not only a chance to expand on what he already knew, but also to meet and make new friends.

Which had quickly happened when he met Smolder, Ocellus, Gallus, Silverstream, and Yona. Much like with Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the Elements of Harmony, they had become next to inseparable. Sure, they needed to learn more about friendship than just spending time with each other, but Twilight couldn't be more proud of these six students.

Twilight had decided to give the students a break for the day; they'd all been working so hard, she felt they deserved it. The six student friends had convened in the central courtyard, most of them enjoying a snack of fruits and vegetables – save Gallus, who was chewing on some scones he'd brought from Griffonstone – and Silverstream had turned back into a hippocampus and was now splashing around in the pond.

"We need more days like this," Gallus said as he swallowed the last of his scones. "Just a day where we can relax. I mean, don't you guys get tired of studying all the time?"

"I don't," Ocellus said cheerfully. "I actually like it."

Smolder rolled her gold dragon eyes. "You would."

Yona suddenly perked up and stomped her front hooves on the ground. Yaks were incredibly strong, and Yona, despite being just a calf, was no different – just the act of her stomping her front hooves on the ground was enough for her to cause the ground within a ten foot radius to shake.

"Yona have idea!" she cried. "We go back to castle in forest!"

"I don't know about that," Sandbar said cautiously. "Last time it almost didn't end well for us."

"Yeah, but that was then," Smolder said. "And we know how to handle those pukwudgies now."

Silverstream poked her eagle-like head out of the water. "And the castle has stairs!" The rest of her friends just stared at her. "What?"

"Silverstream, the school has stairs," Gallus said with a deadpan tone. "Twilight's palace has stairs."

"Yeah, but the castle has the first stairs I've ever seen," Silverstream countered. She crawled out of the water; as a hippocampus, the front half of her body looked like what one would expect a griffon or a hippogriff to look like, having the characteristics of a pony – slender face and hooves – but the back half resembled a fish; in fact, the nickname of hippocampi was "seaponies".

Sandbar shrugged his shoulders. "You know, going to the Castle of the Two Sisters might not be a bad idea. We've got nothing better to do anyway today, and it would be fun to mess around with all those traps our professors told us about."

Gallus scratched at his beaked chin with a talon. "You know what, Sandbar? You might be on to something."

"And like you said, got nothing better to do," Smolder agreed.

The six of them stood up from where they were sitting and got ready to leave.

It was like a part of the sun had come down from the sky. The pillar of light blinded them, making them shield their eyes with their hooves and talons and wings. Short of looking directly at the sun, they'd never seen anything so bright. They were so busy trying to keep their retinas from burning up that they didn't notice the light catching the attention of the other students in the fountain courtyard.

The light slowly died down, allowing the six students to open their eyes. As their vision cleared, they found themselves staring at a creature most of them had never seen before. It looked like some kind of hairless ape, standing tall and upright on two legs, with two long arms ending in grasping hands. The only hair they could see on the creature was on the top of its head, flanked by two pointed ears. The face was flat but had the distinct features of any other living creature – two eyes, a nose with two nostrils, and a mouth. A long staff, ending I what looked like a curved blade, was held in one hand and resting against the creature's shoulder, and it was dressed I what looked like regal white robes.

Ocellus, in her shock, transformed, ringed by green fire until she was now in the form of a five headed hydra. All five heads roared at the creature, spewing their hot breath and dripping spittle on its face and robes.

"I suppose that's one way to say hello," the creature said calmly as it wiped the hydra slime off its face.

"What in Tartarus are you?" Gallus asked.

Silverstream jammed her elbow into Gallus's side. "If the professors hear you using that kind of language, they're going to be upset," she whispered.

"Please forgive my sudden and unannounced appearance, little ones," the creature said. "My name is Kronos, and I need to speak with Princess Twilight Sparkle."

Sandbar's eyes lit up. "Kronos? The professors told us about you!"

"Yeah, aren't you…what's the word they used…a human?" Smolder added.

The creature, Kronos, simply smiled and shook his head. "I am not human. I am more than that. But I'm afraid I don't have time to indulge you with stories that may take all your lifetimes combined to tell. Please, if you cannot take me to the princess, then at least let her know that I've come. It's a matter of utmost urgency."

Ocellus, still in her hydra form, couldn't help but growl. Gallus nodded in agreement. "Just because the professors told us about you doesn't mean that we can trust you."

"Ah, yes, griffons," Kronos mused. "With the exception of you, Gabby, and Gilda, always the distrusting type." Gallus raked his talons across the ground. Kronos held up a hand, signaling his innocence in the remark. "I do not mean to offend, Gallus."

"How do you know my name?" Gallus demanded.

"I know all that there is to know. About every living creature in every dimension in every universe," Kronos answered. "But I understand that you don't trust me, and therefore will not acquiesce to my request. Very well. I shall go to the princess myself." He tapped the bottom tip of his staff on the ground, summoning the same white light he had stepped out of just a few moments ago.

"Grab him before he takes off!" Smolder cried.

The six of them – Ocellus still as a hydra – lunged forward, grabbing hold of Kronos with their hooves and talons and fangs, and the next thing they knew, they were all I Headmare Twilight's office. Ocellus's large body now threatened to bring down the wall, so she changed back into her default Changeling form.

This had all taken less than a half second to transpire, and in that time, they heard Twilight let out a surprised gasp.

"Kronos? What's going on here?"

"It appears your students were trying to keep me from seeing you," Kronos said with a slight chuckle. "Even though you and the other Elements of Harmony told them about our past meetings, it seems like they still do not trust me. They're smart. I'd have done the same thing if I were in their position."

"Headmare Twilight not worry," Yona called. "Yona not let human touch you."

"Kronos isn't a human, he's a god," Twilight said as she stepped out from behind her desk. "And he's a friend. You can all let him go now."

"I don't know if we should," Gallus whispered to Smolder. "What if he tries to pull something?"

"I say we do what Twilight says," Smolder whispered back. "But let's just keep an eye on him.'

Slowly, Twilight's six students released their grip on Kronos and stepped back, all of them eyeing him cautiously. Sandbar was the only one of the group who had even seen a human, and even then it was just a passing glance, and they'd all heard about Kronos and the professors' otherworldly adventures, but to see him in person….None of them knew what to make of him.

Twilight walked over to Kronos and knelt down on her front hooves. "What's the occasion, Kronos?"

"As I told your young pupils, a matter of utmost urgency," Kronos answered. "It involves my brother, the God of Death." From the corner of his eye, he saw Twilight's students shudder uncomfortably.

"I didn't know you had a brother," Twilight said as she stood up straight again.

"The gods of every world are my brothers and sisters. But it's Thanatos I'm concerned about right now. He…." His voice trailed off. "I'm not sure I should say it with such young minds present."

"Oh sure," Gallus said with a roll of his eyes. "First he tells us to take him to the Headmare, and then he doesn't want to say why he had to talk to her."

"Maybe there's a good reason," Sandbar guessed. "Maybe it's private."

Twilight turned to her students. "I can guarantee you it's nothing good, and it's probably something very dangerous."

"Not just for one world, but for all worlds in the multiverse," Kronos confirmed. "Thanatos has found the means to end all existence, save that of the gods."

Twilight let out an audible gasp, taking her students by surprise. It was rare for them to see Twilight shocked by anything – then again, she was usually busy or planning new lessons for the semester – so to see her act so surprised was also surprising to her students. They had this mental image in their minds of their Headmare being a calm, collected pony who never let anything get under her skin.

And yet here she was, her mouth hung open in shock.

Sandbar crossed her arms and stared inquisitively at Kronos. "Right," she said with a scoff. "And how's he gonna do that? Wish on a genie? Six gems and a magic glove?"

"Maybe he snaps his talons and we all go poof," Silverstream added.

"No," Kronos said bluntly. "And if you're trying to joke about this, I suggest you stop. This is no laughing matter." He turned his attention back to Twilight. "Listen to me, Twilight Sparkle. Long ago, my father – for the sake of simplicity let's simply call him The Creator – gave life to the gods and then the universe. Mortal life is fueled by an artifact The Creator built called the Life Lock. The Lock is controlled by four keys, each of which were scattered to the far reaches of the cosmos. By brother has already found three of them, and if he finds the fourth and then the location of the Lock, all he would have to do is insert the keys and close the Lock, and all mortal life would cease to be."

"Why Kronos not do something about brother?" Yona asked. "Brother is Kronos's brother."

Kronos shook his head. "The Creator has forbidden the gods from directly combating one another. This task, I must entrust to Twilight Sparkle and her friends. I cannot directly battle Thanatos, but I can provide guidance."

"Kronos, I'm sure we'd all like to help you," Twilight said, "but I don't know if I can spare everyone else. And besides, there's the time difference between universes, remember? One minute one universe can be one thousand years in another. I don't think we can afford the Elements of Harmony being off world for that long, let alone the ramifications that would have for our friends and families."

Kronos held up a hand, stopping her. "I understand your concern, Twilight, but this task will not require the Elements of Harmony, nor will it require all of your friends here in Equestria. I only require your aid."

"What can one alicorn do against a god?" Twilight asked. "I mean, yeah, there was that time you tried to destroy our world along with the Power Rangers' world, and that showed me that against an actual god I can't do much but annoy him, but –"

"But I have already planned this," Kronos interrupted. "I have looked back to past events. Your meetings with so many people from other worlds….I used to think that it was a pure coincidence, but given recent events, I now believe that the Sisters of Fate have had this in mind from the very beginning, since before even your great grandparents were born. Again, I understand your hesitation, and I am certain that your friends from the other worlds would have the same trepidations, which is why I have decided that to ensure that the worlds are still being protected, I will only ask the aid of one…for now let's call them 'champions'…one champion from each world."

Twilight was silent for a moment, her mind racing with so many thoughts. Why just her? Why not somepony more powerful, like Princess Celestia? Or even Discord, for that matter? Couldn't Kronos have just asked Discord to this Thanatos guy into a harmless bunny or something like that?

Maybe it was because of all Twilight had accomplished since first coming to Ponyville. Maybe it was because Kronos had once been on the receiving end of Twilight's anger – even though in the end her attacks just caused him pain and he healed immediately afterwards. Maybe it was because he knew she could be a capable leader when it came time for someone to step up. Twilight didn't doubt her abilities, but she did doubt her effectiveness against another god. After all, if the combined might of Discord, the Elements of Harmony, and the Power Rangers had only caused Kronos to bleed for a few moments, what hope did she have against a god of death?

"Excuse me," she said with a slight bow. "I….I need to think about this for a minute."

"Please do not take too long," Kronos said. "By now Thanatos may have already found the final Key."

##################################

Twilight's head was spinning. She knew Kronos trusted her – he had come to trust not just her, but all her friends here in Equestria, to the point where he would ask them to go to another world to perform an investigation that he couldn't do because of other engagements – but something like this? She felt sick just thinking about it. While she was certain that feeling was just from her nerves being sent into overdrive as she tried to process this, she couldn't help but wonder what, if anything, she could possibly do.

She barely noticed the students running through the halls of the school as she made her way to the exit. She needed to be alone for a moment, away from the students, away from the lessons, if she was going to make her decision.

She stopped walking on the small walkway and looked down into the pond, her face reflected in the water.

"It can't be that hard a decision to make," she said aloud to herself. "It's a simple yes or no. But – but this is a _god_. You know firsthoof what it's like to fight a god! It's not fun!" She let out an annoyed huff. "Why does it have to be us? Why can't Kronos pick someone else to fight his battle for him?"

"Talking to yourself again, Twilight?" Starlight Glimmer's voice called from the other end of the walkway.

Twilight's former pupil, now school councilor, was levitating a stack of papers with her unicorn magic. Starlight was a very skilled unicorn, skilled enough to swap a pony's cutie mark with another pony, or even remove a cutie mark. It had been more than a year since the two of them met, and even though Starlight was very antagonistic towards Twilight and her friends at first and hated the very idea of a cutie mark due to foalhood jealousy, Twilight got Starlight to see the error of her ways and the two became close friends.

Close enough for Twilight to choose her to provide guidance to the various creatures that make up the school's student body.

Twilight let out a defeated sigh as Starlight approached. "It's –"

"Kronos, right?" Starlight interjected. "Yeah, I heard the whole thing. You really need to stop saying thing out loud."

"I can't help it, I'm too nervous!" Twilight suddenly cried. "There's a god who wants to wipe out all mortal life in existence and Kronos wants me to go with him to gather up an army to fight this other god!"

"Wow," Starlight breathed. "Yeah, I can see why you'd be a little…apprehensive? Is that the word I'm looking for?"

"You give me an ancient, angry centaur from Tartarus who saps all the magical life force from the land, I can take him," Twilight went on. "You give me an evil satyr who's trying to take over the entire world, I can take him. You give me a Decepticon, or a rogue Changeling, ad I can take them. But this….This is something more than that. This is, well, it's none of those. It's dangerous. Probably too dangerous."

Starlight reached out and put a gentle hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Twilight, listen to me. You are the Princess of Friendship. If anyone can handle something like this, it's you."

"I wish I could believe you," Twilight said softly. "But I'm just so nervous and, well, scared. I haven't even met Thanatos yet, and just knowing that he's the God of Death and Kronos's brother, and knowing how much of a beating Kronos took, I don't know what good I can do."

"You can do a lot of good, more than any other pony I know," Starlight assured her. "In fact, you have. You may not know it, because some ponies don't show it – rhyming unintentional, I swear – but there are ponies out there, and other creatures too believe it or not, who worship you not as a princess, but as a hero. You've saved a lot of lives."

"Yeah, and we've all nearly died at least once in the process," Twilight snarked back.

"Maybe, but I've come to learn that you have to risk your life to save a life," Starlight continued. "But trust me, I get it. I've heard the stories about your nightmares, and of course there's the thing you told me about that happened to Rarity. But you're being asked to save more lives. I know it's scary, but you can help so many people. Sorry if it sounds like I' putting a huge weight on your shoulders –"

"It's already there," Twilight said softly.

"But it's like you once told me: If you have a chance to help someone, even at the risk of your own life, don't do it so you can take the credit; do it because it's the right thing to do."

"I want to," Twilight said softly, returning her gaze to the water. "But –"

"But nothing," Starlight interrupted. "You are Princess Twilight Sparkle. You are the strongest, bravest, most courageous pony I know. And if this is what you're meant to do, then stop sulking, step up, and do it. I'm not saying don't be scared or nervous, but you've been given a task and you have to see it through."

Twilight was quiet for a moment. She took a few deep breaths.

And then, she began to sing, quietly at first, but as she went on, the volume of her voice rose.

 _I was prepared to do my best_

 _Thought I could handle any test_

 _For I can do so many tricks_

 _But I wasn't prepared for this_

 _Friendship lessons would have been a breeze_

 _Arguments I can solve with ease_

 _I could ace a quiz on friendship's bliss_

 _But I wasn't prepared for this_

 _Will I fail, or will I pass?_

 _I can't be sure..._

 _My mind is sharp, my skills intact_

 _My heart is pure..._

 _Oh, I've taken my share of licks_

 _I've made it through the thin and thick_

 _But no I wasn't_

 _Oh no, I wasn't_

 _No I wasn't_

 _Prepared... for this!_

Starlight reached out, put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Twilight, if anypony can do this, it's you."

Twilight sighed. "You might be right. But I can't just take off. I have to let everyone know where I'm going. The students might not like this, Starlight, but can you call everycreature into an emergency assembly? Have them be at the auditorium in ten minutes. I'll explain everything to them then."

##############################

As Twilight had expected, her students weren't happy that their break day was being interrupted by this assembly. But she had no choice. She wasn't just going to go off on this quest with Kronos without telling her students why she just vanished. Disappearing without notice would be far worse than having their break day interrupted for a few moments.

Twilight stepped up to the stage, Kronos close behind. All conversations stopped as soon as Kronos entered the room. With the exception of Twilight's friends and most recently her six star students, none of the other students had seen a creature like Kronos. Even if Kronos looked like a human – despite only _looking_ like a human but being far more than that – a vast majority of the students had only ever heard about humans; to see something resembling what they all thought was just a story was, to many of them, fascinating.

"Thank you all for attending on such short notice, everycreature," Twilight announced as she and Kronos stepped into the center of the stage. "I've called this assembly because I wanted to let you all know that I've been tasked with a mission and I'll be going away for a while." She waved a hoof towards Kronos. "This is Kronos, the God of Dimensions, and he's asked me to help him, let's just say, solve a friendship problem between him and his brother. This is going to take us to another world. I don't know how long I'll be gone since each world runs on a different time scale, but I will be returning once this friendship mission is completed. Until then, Starlight Glimmer will be taking over as temporary headmare. I wanted to let you all know this so that way it didn't see like I just disappeared on you."

She saw Rainbow Dash's cyan hoof rise up. "Wait a second. Why is Kronos just taking you? Why not all of us?"

It was Kronos's turn to speak up. "The rest of the Elements of Harmony will be needed if this land comes under threat while Twilight Sparkle is aiding me," he explained. "I don't wish to leave your world unprotected. At least this way your world will still have some protection."

Smolder spoke up. "Wait, back up. 'This world'? And a bit ago you said you were going to another world? What in the Dragon Lord's name are you talking about?"

"We don't have time to go into much detail," Kronos answered. "But yes, there are other worlds out there – other universes and other dimensions – and let's just say that my brother has plans that I do not agree with. Now, if you will excuse us, the Princess and I must be going."

Twilight nodded. "Remember, Starlight Glimmer is in charge until I get back…whenever that will be. I'll see you soon, everycreature!"

With a tap of his staff to the floor, Kronos and Twilight vanished in a ray of light.


End file.
